12-Acre closure submission

These documents were submitted by the Fort Funston Dog Walkers and SFDOG to the Park Service during the notice and comment period following the announcement of a planned 12-acre closure at Fort Funston.

The Park Service had been fencing off acreage since 1996 with the promise that it would reopen, yet none of the areas were reopened for recreation. When the Park Service closed 10 more acres along the bluffs at Fort Funston, several plaintiffs sued, including the Fort Funston Dog Walkers. Ultimately the judge ruled that the Park Service could not make these significant ("highly controversial") changes to Fort Funston without notifiying the public first and allowing public comment on the proposal.

After losing the court case, the Park Service published a proposed closure notice in the Federal Register for 12-acres (rather than the 10 originally requested) and solicited comments from the public. Subsequent to the comment period, the Park Service made a determination to close the 12-acres as planned and that none of the public comments would impact this decision. Note the "Shore letter . . . " for a reaction to this decision.